Suits ep 2x11 Reaction Post
I can't break this down scene by scene. There was too much, and the flow of the episode was surprisingly choppy. I think there was a theme that in the wake of the firm's civil war, everything is a little chaotic and jumbled, but I could've done without it.
First: Mike and Tess and Rachel. Oh, God how I could do without this continuing train wreck. Tess was introduced for reasons passing understanding. Is she supposed to be a replacement Trevor? A tie to Mike's old life now that he's finally run off his oldest friend who also happened to be the single worst influence on him ever? Or just as a good time girl to help him get over his grandmother's death? IMHO, he doesn't need the former and, as of this ep, she very clearly sucks at the latter. I really hope this is the last we see of her, but considering that hubby comes looking for blood in the trailer for next week's ep, I'm going to doubt it (much to my sorrow).
And at this point, I couldn't find interest in whether or not Mike & Rachel ever get together with two hands and a flashlight. Rachel needs to stop mooning over him and move on; she knew it was a bad idea when this started, and the longer it drags on, the worse it gets. IMHO, she needs to go off to law school ASAP, meet someone there, get married and have beautiful babies while she's practicing law in another law firm. Mike is nothing but drama for her and that's not getting any better or easier.
Second: Mike's sudden "right and wrong" kick and the ensuing downward spiral. I've never seen anyone disintegrate as fast as Mike did in this ep. There was clearly less and less rational behavior on Mike's part the further the story progressed, and the worst part for me is that pretty much everyone sat back and watched it happen. Harvey tried a couple of times to pull Mike back from the edge, but Mike is spiraling out of his own control and it's gonna take more than a couple "shut ups" to snap him out of it. It's increasingly clear that Harvey needs to stop letting Mike work on his own pretty much ever until the kid has a firmer grip on himself and his life.
Now I'm not saying this wasn't predictable. Mike's entire life up until now has been built on a series of incredibly bad choices in the wake of a major mistake that derailed his future. He's gotten used to making bad choices and the mess he has to live in because of them, and had essentially given up on controlling his own life for a while. Problem with this is that now he's trying to take that control back, he's still making bad choices in the midst of making good ones, and the level of the game he's on now means that the stakes and consequences are a lot higher. Not just for Mike, but everyone involved. And when you try to break old destructive patterns, you can wind up with major fallout before things start to look better. The trick is getting that far.
Third: Louis. Half my time watching him is spent feeling so bad for the socially inept little schmendrik. He's on top of his own world, but can't seem to make any headway repairing the damage he does to his "friendship" with Harvey every time he turns around twice. He's gotten the interest of someone who understands him, and a Domme no less, only to be rejected because of something that isn't really his fault. As much as it scarred my corneas, I was actually really happy for Louis when he was accepted by his Domme; it really seems like that's the kind of relationship he needs. He's… a verklempt Tony DiNozzo, a sub in desperate need of a Domme to give him limits and praise in equal measure. To have that taken away in the same episode was really sad and I hope this isn't the end of that storyline.
Fourth: Harvey & Zoey. I wasn't aware that the whole Harvey/Zoey thing was significant enough in the earlier eps of this season to warrant the closure it was given in this one, but apparently the writers disagreed with me. On the whole, the scenes in which it was handled were lovely: from Donna/Harvey banter about it in the beginning to the way Harvey proved he'd actually make a great dad (like we didn't know this already) to the end where it's no one's fault that they have to end their relationship: it's the turns life takes and chances missed because of it and bittersweetness but no hard feelings. If only we could manage to end some of the other relationships floating around this way.
Fifth, and last: the new and short-lived associate. I understand that this will somehow fuel Louis vs. Harvey as we go towards the end of the season, and drive us towards the inevitable moment when Louis begins to suspect Mike's lack of collegiate education. But seriously? Harvey and Jessica didn't see this coming a mile off? No matter who they hire, since they only hire top graduates from Harvard, eventually they were gonna hire someone that should have known Mike at Harvard & yet didn't. Unless Jessica intends to hold that hiring freeze in place long enough to get recruiting privileges at another Ivy League law school, this is gonna keep happening and something's gonna give the game away. Honest to God, neither of them thought of that before now? Bullshit.
Best scene: when Harvey is interacting with Zoey's niece at the door. That was just too precious. It gives the character another dimension and serves as a sweet counterpoint to the rest of the drama unfolding elsewhere.
Worst scene: the scene where Mike confronts the lawyer that represented the man who killed his parents gets this for being the most unnecessary scene in the entire ep. Nothing is accomplished, even for Mike. There's no closure from the confrontation, and no one even knows it happened except Mike and the guy he was harassing. It's everyone's cliché confrontation done in the worst possible way, and didn't serve the story at all.
To sum up: this was very different than I thought the comeback ep would be. I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I hope there's a resolution by the end of the season that doesn't involve Mike's secret being given away to yet someone else. Too many people know as it is.